Pastors' Institute examines changing role of clergy

By Ted Slutz

Several years ago, the Rev. Michael Ross stepped down as pastor of a Nazarene church on the west side of Indianapolis after only a brief tenure. "It wasn't a good fit," Ross says. "There was a lot of tension and so I resigned -- probably before I was kicked out." After that, he took time off to recover and "try to find my identity."

During this sabbatical, something odd happened. He began to get calls from pastors who wanted to leave the ministry themselves. "I was hoping they would call to empathize with me," he says, "but more called to congratulate me. And then I began to realize that some significant things are happening in the pastorate."

The (ex) Pastors' Institute

Three years ago, Ross started the Indianapolis-based Pastors' Institute to help clergy who have recently left the ministry. The institute sponsors a series of gatherings in cities across the nation, where from eight to 12 ex-ministers meet and share their stories. "Healing takes place," said Ross, who leads the sessions. "They leave with permission to make good choices about their future."

The institute conducts an ongoing survey of former clergy to learn their reasons for leaving the ministry. (The survey is posted online at www.pastorsinfocentral.com.) More than 100 people have responded to date. From their responses, and from what he has learned at the gatherings of former clergy, Ross concludes that his original insight that "some significant things are happening in the pastorate" has been confirmed.

"The biggest response I get is that pastors feel like they're running a small nonprofit organization; they're managers, not shepherds," Ross said. The demand that clergy possess the skills of a corporate executive "puts the pastor in a mode of running a business and trying to make the business grow.

"The church has a counterpart to everything," he said. "The world has bookstores, TV stations, entertainment, so we'll have those things too. We'll have a Christian Yellow Pages. It's competition, and you get tired of it, so you just say no. Burnout isn't the issue. It's disillusionment. It's the feeling that the role of clergy has changed, and you don't buy into it anymore."

'Non-traditionals' in the ranks

For all of the discontent that Ross's research has turned up, there is no looming shortage of clergy. In most denominations, there is an oversupply. Two sociologists at the University of Notre Dame, however, recently argued that the oversupply actually reflects a loss in the "occupational prestige" of the ministry.

In the 1970s, the nation's social-service sector created millions of new jobs, and many people who once would have enrolled in seminary instead entered social-service work. The vacuum created by their absence was filled by a large number of "non-traditionals" -- older students seeking to enter the ministry as a second career, and women, who now compose about 10 percent of the clerical ranks.

In some seminaries, women students are now a majority. In the view of some, seminaries began admitting second and third-tier students because the first-tier students pursued other careers. These trends -- the changing responsibilities of clergy and the rising number of nontraditional seminarians -- have combined to create ferment and uncertainty within the ministry

Clergy influence on civic affairs

Both clergy and Americans in general say that clergy should serve as a prophetic presence in American culture. According to a recent survey conducted in Indianapolis by The Polis Center, more than three-fourths of residents believe clergy should have at least a moderate amount of influence on civic affairs. But other evidence suggests that clergy feel strong pressure to confine themselves to matters directly affecting their congregations.

In her dissertation, political scientist Sue Crawford reported that Indianapolis clergy are pulled in different directions regarding community activism: denominational leaders encourage it, while congregation members discourage it. Crawford said that the majority of congregational outreach consists of what she called "gap-filling" activity-for example, providing food and monetary assistance to the poor. Only a small minority of the clergy in her study were involved in activism that aimed to accomplish social reform or promote a legislative agenda.

Bill Mirola, a sociologist at Marian College who conducted The Polis Center's survey said that in the past, "We looked to the clergy as a source of commentary on what was going on in the community -- or at least we expected to hear from them as moral arbiters. Now that role is filled by politicians, community leaders, and academics. If there happen to be clergy among them, that's fine. If not that's fine. It depends on what the issue is."

This article appeared in the Spring 2001 issue of Religion & Community, it is reprinted with permission of the Polis Center at IUPUI.

Last updated on 01/14/2004

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